


Soul and Fawn

by leonheart2012



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Fairy Tale Elements, Gay Romance, Heavily Metaphorical, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 00:28:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30097494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leonheart2012/pseuds/leonheart2012
Summary: A young man walks through the forest and helps some creatures, after which he is invited to spend some time with a forest spirit
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 1





	Soul and Fawn

There was once a young man who had a kind and generous heart. The world, jealous of his light, attempted to steal it, demanding everything from him. When he still had light to give, after it had taken everything, it tried to trod it out, abusing him with harsh words and rough hands. After it had thrown everything it had, the man’s heart still shone bright. Out of options, the world banished him, and he set to wandering, with only the clothes on his back.

On one morning, as he woke in a new and strange forest, he came across a rabbit caught in a hunter’s snare. Feeling sorry for it, the young man freed it, watching with delight as it scampered away into the underbrush.

He himself was being watched, by a spirit of the forest. He had been mistreated by the world, too. It had taken and taken, demanding too much. But as he watched the young man free the rabbit, he thought that he may still find light in the world.

The young man continued walking, chewing on some nuts and berries he found. Before long, he came across a beautiful bird. He sat under the tree opposite it and watched with fascination as it sang its song, calling its mate, turning away when they copulated. After a while, the young man stood and continued walking.

He came across a bear, a huge splinter from an unnaturally felled tree speared into his foot, and approached cautiously. The bear roared as he came close, but the young man shushed him, petting his fur and talking calmly. Injured and unable to do anything but growl and gnash his teeth, the bear allowed the young man to creep closer.

“I know this will hurt,” the young man said gently, leaning his weight on the injured paw. “But it’s alright. I mean you no harm.” He grasped the splinter and, with one sharp movement, took the wood out.

He tossed the splinter away and darted out of reach other the bear’s claws as it swiped at him in pain. He watched with sad eyes as it limped away.

Catching his breath, he sat and closed his eyes, leaning back against a tree trunk. He lamented at the world’s greed, that it would still demand so much despite having everything it needed to survive. The creeping industrialisation was going to feast upon all the natural resources. It was already making the natural world sick.

The sun slipped underneath the horizon, and he closed his eyes for the night.

In the darkness, the forest spirit crept closer, stroking over his face with gentle fingers. His sleeping form was so peaceful, free of the pain he had experienced. The spirit had been slowly falling in love throughout the day, and now broke through the barrier, leaving a kiss on his cheek.

The morning sun rose and filtered through the trees, waking the young man. He stretched and continued to walk. He would need to find water soon, so he followed the trails of moss, going downhill until he reached a basin, where a river flowed and pooled, a fall on either side.

Kneeling next to the plunge pool, he scooped water off the top and drank deeply. On the other bank, a deer watched him with careful eyes before following his lead, bending down to drink.

The young man decided to wait near the water for a while, watching the different forms of wildlife coming to take a drink. The deer skittered away when the moose came, the moose fled for the wolves, the wolves moved on before the bear.

The young man recognised the bear from yesterday. Still limping, it bathed its injury in the pool, staining the water red. The young man stood and stripped off his clothes, diving into the clear pool, swimming to the other bank.

Upon seeing him, the bear became wary, but the young man eased closer, just as he had the other day and, recognising his voice, the bear calmed. It laid down and allowed him closer, extending his paw, hoping for more help.

The young man stroked the bear’s fur and took a look at its wound. As he looked, he saw it was not infected, and that it would heal on its own, if nothing got into it.

“You’ve been taking very good care of this.” He praised, scratching behind the bear’s ear. Even so, he knew of an herbal mixture that would help prevent infection. He stood slowly. “I’ll be back, wait here.” He said, moving into the undergrowth, looking for witch hazel and thyme.

After finding the herbs he had been looking for, he came back and crushed the leaves together, bringing out the oils. “Another little sting.” He warned, rubbing the crushed leaves against the outside of the cut. The bear groaned, tilting his head back and into the dirt, but he knew by now that the young man meant him no harm.

Once he was done, the young man sat back and stroked over the bear’s fur again. “Let’s just rest here a bit, alright? You should let it heal.”

The bear leaned back and let the young man rest against his flank. Even though he hadn’t been awake long, the gentle lull of the bear’s breath carried him off into a dreamless sleep.

After he fell asleep, the forest spirit came closer and touched the bear’s head. In the touch, he healed its wound and gave him the directions to his home. “Bring him to me, I’ll be waiting.” The forest spirit said, and the bear closed its eyes.

When the young man woke, he checked the bear’s paw, gasping when he saw that it was fully healed. “That’s...how did it heal so quickly?”

The bear growled and rolled over, testing his paw. When he was sure that it could take his weight, he waited for the young man to follow him, leading him deeper into the woods, where the forest spirit had instructed him to go.

The young man followed, wondering all the while what could have possibly happened and where they might be going. Even so, he'd known nature to be more trustworthy than humans. So, when they came across a natural archway, weaved from birch saplings, he didn't hesitate to go through it.

He was transported to a clearing bursting with light and life, birds and butterflies pollinating the flowers as bees returned to their hives to make sweet honey. A gentle breeze blew yet more seeds, creating an endless cycle of life, new plants sprouting where old ones had died. The young man gasped in wonder at the beauty of the place.

Walking forward, he came across a meandering stream with a deep, clear pool. Bathing in the cool waters was a tall, willowy young man. His long, flowing, wavy locks were a tree bark brown, his eyes, when he turned them to the young man, the colour of bear fur, his skin the colour of earth. The young man’s breath stalled in his chest. The forest spirit had been made from earth, yet was an unearthly beauty. He moved with grace, and when he finally spoke, it was as soft as the breeze blowing through his hair.

“Hello,” he smiled, and the young man fell to his knees, ready to worship. “Please, none of that. We are equals.” He caressed the young man’s face. “You have shown kindness to my forest, and therefore I invite you to stay and dine with me.”

“I would be honoured.” The young man said, enamoured with the vision before him.

The forest spirit bid him remain by the pool as he fetched a selection of fruits and nuts, a small jar of honey, and a bowl of edible flowers. “Please, eat.” He said, taking a bite out of a pear, juice flowing down his chin.

The young man gingerly took an apricot, and freshness burst in his mouth. He closed his eyes in rapture. “It’s wonderful.” He said. “Thank you.”

“You are more than welcome. I could see your light as soon as you stepped into my forest.” His face fell a little. “Of course, not everyone is so generous with their light as you.” He reached out and caressed his face again. “Maybe you can tell me why so many of your kind are so selfish?”

The young man shook his head. “I cannot.” His own heart ached for the answer. “I wish I could take away all the pain and suffering, all the greed and envy, but I cannot do that, either. Sometimes, it feels like there is no good I can do.”

“You do plenty of good; you helped my rabbits, my bears, and left my birds alone. Others would have eaten my rabbits, killed my bears and stolen my birds. Thank you for showing me that not all of the world is so greedy.”

“I don’t want to go back there.” The young man said. “It’s cruel, and heartless. Won’t you let me stay?”

The forest spirit hesitated. “This is not your world. You will perish here. It is made for the denizens of the forest, those born of the earth.”

“Could you...change me? To make me belong?”

“I have never done so before, but I have heard of others doing this. But if I change you, there will be no going back. Are you sure this is what you desire?”

The young man also hesitated. For, in all the pain, there are glimmers of light. His mother, who cared for him, a friend who supported him, a stranger who provided him warmth in the winter after he was cast out. But there were far more people who hurt him than helped, and so he eventually nodded. “Nature has been kinder to me than any human.”

“Very well. I will need to prepare. The bear you helped is waiting for you. He will keep you warm tonight. Tomorrow, come back to me.”

The young man and the forest spirit parted ways, and while the young man settled down to sleep, the forest spirit prepared for the ritual. He gathered herbs and flowers that will help the process, and made ink from berries. He laid down and draped them over himself, transferring his power to them.

The next day, after the young man woke, he crossed through the archway and saw the forest spirit, looking much more pale, and rushed over. “Are you alright?”

The forest spirit opened his eyes. “Quite. Yes.” He sat up, feeling a little dizzy. “Come here, give me your hands.” He reached out, and the young man gave him his hands. The forest spirit laid the flowers against his palms and smoothed the ink over his brow, placed the herbs on his tongue. “Chew.” He instructed, and the young man bit down on mint and rosemary. “I bid you discard your human name. Cast off your ties to humanity and become one with me.”

“I discard it.” The young man said. “I discarded it years ago.” He stripped himself of his clothes, which were eaten by the earth, and held onto the forest spirit again. "I'm ready."

“Good. I now give you a name of the earth. I name you Alma. To bind us, I share with you my own – Fulvo.” He was rushing, whether in anticipation or exertion, Alma didn’t know. Fulvo leaned forward and sealed their lips together. “We are now as one, meu amor.” With that, he lay back, pale and shivering, until Alma lay next to him and held him in his arms.

After the ceremony, Alma lost all sense of time. It could have been hours, days or months since they joined together, but it hardly mattered; they shared kisses as sweet as the sunlight, ate fruits and nuts, watched the colourful birds, and were happy. Then, one day, Alma was reminded, as he washed his body, of a conversation he had once shared with his mother when he was young, about where babies came from.

“When you are older,” she had said, “and married, you will experience an urge. You will love and be loved, and in the love, you will want. The want will start gently, but as your connection grows stronger, so too shall the want. Eventually, the want will be so strong, that you will give each other a gift. It will be pleasant, and as you give it, it will fill you both with even more love than before. That exchanging of gifts is how babies are made.”

Still confused, Alma had asked a wide range of questions about it, until she had told him more. It had been a few years later, so he had a bit more understanding of what she had talked about.

“You are different, my love, to the person you will marry. They will have their own gift to give you. When you give them your gift, it will plant a seed inside them, and it will grow and change into a baby. This exchanging of gifts is called making love. Now, no more questions until you’re older.”

She had died not long after that, and so he had never learned properly how to make love, but as he slowly bathed himself, he thought about what gift he could possibly give to Fulvo. He loved him dearly, with all his heart, and yet, he didn’t have the want that his mother had spoken about.

Alma took some time, mulling it over. The sun never set in their little garden, so the concept of a ‘day’ had long since slipped away. Soon, when he was brushing through Fulvo’s hair, his companion voiced his concern.

“Meu amor, you seem troubled. What’s on your mind?”

Alma didn’t say anything for a while. Then, he said, “my mother, in my previous life, told me of an act. An act of love, between two people.”

“What is it?” Fulvo asked curiously. He had thought he knew everything about love.

“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to think of what it could be. It’s called ‘making love’, but I don’t know what to do.”

Fulvo thought for a minute. “I’ve never heard of it. But you would...like to ‘make love’ with me?”

“Yes.” He kissed his long, slender neck. “I love you, and I want to experience this with you.”

“Then, meu amor, we shall discover it, for my love for you knows no bounds.”

Alma smiled and accepted the kisses his lover gave to him. He wrapped his arms around his slender waist, a stirring in his chest sparking what he thought, upon reflection, might be the hunger his mother had told him about. His lover took them to the grassy patch where they often lay together in the sun, lazing the timeless summer afternoons away, grazing on berries and honey. Fulvo took his hand and kissed it gently.

“Meu amor. What do I do?”

Alma closed his eyes, tuning into the want. It begged for contact. “Touch me, please.”

Frowning, Fulvo stroked over his lover’s brow, his cheeks, his lips. “Like this?”

“All over.” He brought his hands to his lover’s chest. “Like here.” He trailed his fingers over Fulvo’s chest, down to his stomach. He kissed his neck again, this time slowly and deliberate, leaving his tongue to explore in his lips’ wake. Above him, his lover sighed and closed his eyes.

“It feels...” He paused, not having any words to describe the feeling.

As if being guided, Alma took his lover’s cock in hand and stroked over it. He had never once before thought to touch it, but now that the hunger had sparked, he wanted more than anything to feel it, to have it inside him, to bring both it and it’s owner pleasure.

Fulvo took his lips again, kissing him fervently. “Meu amor, this is...of your world?”

“I think...yes. But that doesn’t make it wrong. It’s a gift. My gift. Please...please take it. Take me.”

He hesitated. “I’m not sure I should, meu amor. A gift like this...could rot our garden.”

Alma bit his lip. “I...understand if you don’t want to.” He wanted to experience everything with Fulvo, but understood his reluctance. It had already been a risk to the well-being of his world to allow him in.

Fulvo claimed his lips again. “Meu amor, Alma, I...I accept your gift.”

And slowly, they fit together. Alma gasped in pleasure as Fulvo pressed inside him, joining their bodies together completely. Fulvo kissed his lover’s neck and face as he experienced the most wonderful of Earthly delights for the first time. The whole garden seemed to stop, before time rushed forward and pitched into the deepest, blackest night, covering the young couple with a blanket of tiny, twinkling stars.

The forest spirit gathered his transformed human lover into his arms and caressed him all throughout the night. They made love several times before they parted, but still the dawn did not break. The forest spirit basked as though the sun were still out, feasting as always on the delights of the garden.

Alma bathed in the stream, once cool, now freezing. He felt he did not belong there anymore.

The forest spirit rubbed the sweat of their joining from his body, which glowed with an unearthly light. He stepped gracefully through his garden and picked fruit, feeding the small animals that came to greet him.

It seemed that, to all but Alma, things had remained unchanged. Alma wondered if he made a mistake, if choosing this over the old world had been a trick. Everything in the garden that had once seemed delightful, gentle and sweet where the outside world was rough and cruel, now took on the same thorns. He was stung while he walked through the garden, wasps taking place of the bees, ants biting him and plants tugging at his bare skin. Swept aside and unwelcome, Alma sank into the dirt, burying roots that burrowed deep, looking for the sustenance he needed to survive.

After a long, long time, just as Alma was about to cover himself entirely with the earth, he heard the forest spirit calling his name.

“Alma? Where are you?”

The earth begged he stay. Alma fought to get back to his lover. His own roots pleaded to be left undisturbed. The earth had been a good bed for them. Alma grasped his lover’s foot as he walked past, silently pleading for him to rescue him.

“Alma, dearest, where have you been this whole time?”

His tongue caked with mud, he could not speak, but his lover understood him. His eyes grew sad.

“Meu amor. I am sorry.” He kissed his earthy lips, and his roots withered slightly. “I have misinterpreted your gift.” He slipped his arms around his lover’s waist and pulled him from the dirt. His skin no longer glowed with unearthly light, returned to his former state. He was, as he always had been before, Fulvo, Alma’s true love.

He took him to the stream and washed the dirt from him, his gentle hands caressing every part of him. The last of the roots fell off his body, and he relaxed into his lover’s side.

“Meu amor,” Fulvo whispered. “Eu amo Voce.”

Alma smiled and leaned up to kiss him. “Eu tambem te amo.”

His lover gathered him into his arms and brought him to the clearing, where they lay together and watched the sun rise.


End file.
